Poaching in Sri Lankan waters: Double standards everywhere

On September 22, I read with dismay your front and inside page stories on how Indian fishermen steal our fish in the Palk-bay and earn billions by exporting the catch.

Yet, we only make some feeble protests due to political pressure from India and intimidation from Tamil Nadu.

As a result, our fisher folk in the North continue to suffer immensely. Tamil Nadu politicians such as J. Jayalalithaa, M. Karunanidhi and Vaiko and other agi- tators have shed crocodile tears for the “suffering” Tamils of Sri Lanka and have assaulted Buddhist monks and pilgrims to express their solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamil cause. While doing so, they encourage their fishermen to invade our territorial waters and steal from the very people they are trying to protect.

What is unfortunate is that our own Tamil politicians (the TNA especially) and the Bishops of Jaffna and Mannar who vociferously advocate “Tamil rights” here, speak nary a word against this daylight robbery. Only the Government, the Fisheries Ministry and the Sri Lankan Navy have taken some action in spite of all the odds stacked against our country.

However, the most significant feature is that in spite of the rape of our sea resources, the people of the North including the fisher folk, have overwhelmingly voted for the TNA at the recent provincial elections. This obviously indicates that they feel the TNA Provincial Council can do for them what the Government or the Navy has not done -- that is to save their livelihood from the greedy Tamil Nadu poachers.

Now that the TNA has been given this mandate, it is up to this party to save the Northern fisher folk from the jaws of their erstwhile saviours. Since the TNA wants the security forces to withdraw from the North, the Navy should simply maintain a low profile and let the TNAcontrolled PC to handle this problem.

The people of the North will have to learn through bitter experience that they cannot have the cake (Jayalalithaa’s “socalled” help) and eat it (the fish) as well. Hopefully, they will, in time, learn who their friends are. Cecil Dharmasena

Kandy